The Supplements You’re Taking Might Actually Be Worthless

People take supplements and vitamins for just about anything these days, and they’ll freely give out advice on what they think you should be taking. But which supplements and their health benefits are actually backed by science? It may not be as many as you may think.

It’s easy to believe that all of the supplements you see on the shelf actually do what they say, but this infographic posted on Visual.ly reveals a little bit more about which ones have been extensively researched.

You know how people go crazy about the health benefits of açai supplements? According to this chart, açai falls under the category of “no scientific evidence.”

Other popular supplements with little or no backing are vitamin A, beta carotene, copper, silica, goji, flaxseed oil and magnesium.

IFLScience.com

According to IFLScience, “The graph only used data from human trials that used a random placebo-control method.”

The supplements whose claims are most backed by science are at the top of the graph, and as your go down, those supplements have less and less evidence that their claims are supported by science. The larger the supplement’s bubble on the graph, the more popular it is.

To be fair, many of these may have real benefits but need more scientific research. Either way, it’s good to take an honest look at what we’re putting in our bodies.